


Bleeding Heart

by KitsunesKnight



Series: Logan Holden - Mass Effect: Andromeda [2]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Angst, Gen, Sad, Siblings, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 13:06:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11601252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KitsunesKnight/pseuds/KitsunesKnight
Summary: As he finally starts understanding his role in Andromeda, and has managed to face some big problems that this new galaxy holds, Logan still finds new ways to feel unsure about himself. He's suddenly forced to make a decision, one that could have grave consequences for the Nexus' survivability. Will he make the right choice?





	Bleeding Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place after "The Pathfinder" in this same series!

Logan stood in front of a control panel of Nexus Ops. A glowing button told him that if he pushed it, it would release a small number of people from cryo, as per a manual override. He did not know if he should push it.

Mere hours ago he had disembarked the Tempest, a successful mission on Havarl completed. They’d made contact with an entirely new alien species, the friendly angara. They’d found a vault on their original homeworld, too contaminated to properly live on, and reset it, the healing process having begun. It had been wonderful progress, but, more importantly, it had been a good distraction.

He had come back to the Nexus intending to complete a few tasks, and trade what they’d found on Havarl for more supplies before heading off to Voeld and assisting in a strike on a kett facility with the angara Rebellion. And, though he hadn’t told anyone, also to check in on his sister, who was still in a coma. He had not even exited the docking bay when a commotion reached his ears.

“Free our families!” One voice called.

“Don’t keep us separated!” Another shouted.

Curious, Logan had wandered over. What he hadn’t expected was an entire protest, made up of various races, including a krogan, blocking off Hydroponics, nor that as soon as he showed his face, that the protesters immediately singled him out.

“Pathfinder! You can fix this! How could you choose to put a science team on Podromos!?”

They continued shouting about ruined schedules, separated tribes, trapped families, unknowns. Logan tried to explain, that he hadn’t realized what it would cause, that all he wanted was to try and find ways to grow. They wouldn’t listen, they wanted answers. Logan finally assured them that he’d ask.

At least, after he went to see Cherise. On his way there, however, a human woman began to shout at him.

“You ruined everything! You and your no good father!”

It had legitimately scared him, causing him to skip away a couple steps. “E-Excuse me?”

“You heard me! Your father convinced us all to come all the way out here just to die! It was all lies! He’s ruined us!” She insisted.

“He tried to fix things!” Logan protested. “We all are! He died to protect us, to save us!”

“Believe what you want, but my family is gone and I’ll never see them again!”

The woman spat at his feet and stormed off. Logan was left standing there, staring after her, questioning everything all over again. He spent half an hour sitting by Cherise’s side, holding her hand. He didn’t dare speak of anything negative again. Not after what happened last time. The news about Habitat 7 and their father had not gone over well. Instead he told her about the angara, and Aya and Havarl, how he’d fixed it, and that it was healing. That he was planning to do it again. There was no interface with SAM to ensure she’d hear, or that she could speak back, but he’d seen the vids and read the stories. Talking helped. Not just her, either, after that half hour, he felt ready to look at his next problem.

Finally reaching Operations, Logan headed to the militia headquarters to speak with Kandros, the turian in charge. He had been an early confidence booster to Logan, someone who knew his job, knew how bad things were, and had respect for the human Pathfinder, while recognizing that he still had things to learn. He was a person Logan knew wouldn’t hold back something important, or try to dodge issues. Straightforward and reliable.

Someone who said it would take everyone’s input to decide what to do with the cryo pods. So Director Tann and Nakmor Kesh joined them at the militia HQ. They discussed that the protesters were blocking the extremely important Hydroponics, that they couldn’t just cave to demands, that they had processes for a reason. But that they were pioneers, they could really cause damage if they wanted to, that armed force would likely be necessary. They didn’t want to hurt anyone, of course, but they would if they had to.

All eyes turned to Logan, he was, after all, the Pathfinder. He could make the decision using an override command at Nexus Operations. He stood in silence for what felt like an eternity, the gazes of the others bearing down on him. He remembered the pain in the voices of the protesters, the anger in the voice of the woman. He remembered his father, dead on Habitat 7. His sister, in a coma in Hyperion’s medbay.

“Don’t touch them. I’ll open the pods.”

Maybe it was his imagination, but no one seemed quite pleased with the decision. They didn’t argue it, instead just dispersing.

So now he stood there, in front of the panel. The names of the people the protesters had demanded be woken sitting in a list. The glowing button waiting for him to press it. It would strain the Nexus’ resources until they could grow again. It could cause issues. More may demand their loved ones be freed in a never-ending domino effect that would quickly overwhelm them. Was he really ready to condemn the entire Initiative over a bleeding heart?

“Wait, are you really gonna do it?”

Logan turned to find one of the human men from the protest behind him. “I…”

“I can’t believe it, I’m gonna see my mom again! Thank you!”

He looked into the man’s eyes, saw the hope, the pain, the relief.

Yes. He was going to potentially condemn the entire Initiative over a bleeding heart. Because he could find no other way to stop the bleeding, at least not for now, and if the Initiative was to be doomed, at least they could face it together, instead of being trapped in a never-ending dream.

Logan turned back to the console and pressed the button. SAM read off the names.

“That one! That’s her!” The man exclaimed on the fifth name. “That’s my mom!”

Logan smiled. “Well don’t wait around here, then. Go be the first thing she sees when she wakes up.”

“I will! Thank you so much, Pathfinder!” He said, tears running down his cheeks, before he turned and ran off.

“You’re welcome,” Logan said, holding back tears of his own, knowing he may feel that same hope himself.

**Author's Note:**

> So far this is all I have for my Mass Effect: Andromeda stuff. I'll need to get playing to see if any other moments strike a chord. I'm definitely not looking to write out the entire game, mostly just key points, anything that really stands out to me. Hoping the story will give me more good moments I can fill in some blanks or recharacterize things in a way the game doesn't let me.


End file.
